302 FRINGALAUDA 



FRINGALAUDA, Hodgs., 1836. 



442. HODGSON'S GROUND-FINCH. 

 FRINGALAUDA NEMORICOLA. 



Fringalauda nemoricola, Hodgs., As. Res. xix. p. 158 (1836) ; David and 

 Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 334 ; (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. Mus. xii. p. 268 ; 

 Gates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds, ii. p. 247. 



$ ad. (Himalayas). Crown and upper parts generally blackish brown, 

 with rufous and dull buff margins, the rump uniform ashy grey ; quills 

 dark brown, with narrow rufous margins ; greater wing-coverts brown, 

 mottled with black and tipped with white ; median coverts ashy brown, 

 margined with white ; tail dark brown, with dull whitish margins ; sides 

 of head and neck reddish brown ; the cheeks with brownish streaks ; an 

 indistinct ashy white supercilium marked with brown ; under parts plain 

 brown, the sides of tbe breast and flanks streaked with dark brown, the 

 centre of the abdomen dull white ; under tail-coverts broadly margined 

 with white ; under wing-coverts ashy white ; axillaries yellow ; bill and 

 legs fleshy brown ; iris ruddy brown. Culmen 0'48, wing 3'87, tail 2'65 r 

 tarsus 0*8 inch. Sexes alike. 



Hob. The Himalayas from Nepal to Bhutan, the Kan-su 

 mountains in Mongolia, Moupin, and Western China. 



Inhabits the Alpine regions, in summer at considerable 

 altitudes, descending lower in the winter. When the young 

 are fledged they collect in large flocks and frequent the 

 meadows and slopes of the highest mountains. When in 

 search of food they keep flying from place to place uttering a 

 squeaking note. On the ground they disperse but on the wing 

 form a dense mass. I do not find any description of its nest 

 or eggs. 



443. ALTAI GROUND-FINCH. 

 FRINGALAUDA ALTAICA. 



Fringalauda altaica (Eversm.), Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Mosc. xxi. p. 223 

 (1848) ; Dresser, Ibis, 1893, p. 378 ; F. sordida, Stoliczka, J.A.S.B. 

 xxxvii. pt. ii. p. 63 (1868) ; (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. Mus. xii. p. 266 ; 

 Gates, F. Brit. Ind. Birds, ii. p. 248 ; Passer pulverulentus Severtz., 

 Tuik. Jevot. pp. 64, 116 (1873). 1 Propasser murrayi, Blyth, J.A.S.B. 

 xxxii. p. 458 (1863). 



ad. (Altai). Kesembles F. nemoricola, but has the upper parts some- 

 what paler, the axillaries white, not yellow, and the tips of the median and 

 larger wing-coverts narrower and tinged with rufous ; bill brown, the base 



